


The Trouble with Perfection

by NorthwesternInsanity



Category: Music RPF, Styx (Band)
Genre: Drama, Gen, changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 12:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15972392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthwesternInsanity/pseuds/NorthwesternInsanity
Summary: Styx had a new guitarist with the greatest potential JY had ever seen, and some incredible ideas to boot. But could anything be perfect in a band under the scrutiny of a certain controlling singer and keyboardist?





	The Trouble with Perfection

**Author's Note:**

> The riffs Tommy showed JY are from Foolin Yourself and Blue Collar Man.

His name was Tommy Shaw.

The kid that Dennis DeYoung, James "JY" Young, and brothers Chuck and John Panozzo managed to snatch up from the depths of Montgomery, Alabama. The kid who could be considered nothing but a lucky find when they were all in a pinch following the sudden departure of a disgruntled John "JC" Curulewski. 

He was young, energetic, and he spoke with a perfect light Southern accent -one that was simply there, giving a slight twang to his speech and distinctive sound to his singing voice without being overbearing or difficult to understand. He had straight, flaxen hair down to his shoulders that puffed at the bottom to bounce out, framing most of face with a blunt-edged fringe. He had intense eyebrows shielding huge, puppy-like blue eyes that the girls of the day would go nuts for. The only downside of his appearance was how much shorter he stood next to JY. But Dennis had figured that the other features on Tommy made up for it, along with his energy, and JY seemed to get on with him from the time they met. That was what promised the most to Dennis, knowing that a two-guitarist band would struggle with animosity between guitarists.

Tommy proved to be a lead guitar riff whiz at his audition, but he was also in love with the unique sound of a twelve-string acoustic. Dennis had jumped at the concept, thinking of the unique sound a twelve-string could incorporate with his prog style ballads.

Little did Dennis know that Tommy wasn't so prog oriented. In fact, he was more toward the hard rock side that not only John and JY wanted to play, but what Dennis denied so strongly that the resulting frustration had been part of what caused JC to up and leave after a few of his attempts of writing had been pushed aside from inclusion on albums. 

JY had to admit, JC wasn't the best writer of lyrics, and he and John had to work with him extensively to make his compositions come together. Chuck contributed to, though generally tried to duck away from the argument.

Following the audition hosted at JY's house, and after accepting Tommy into the fold, JY decided he should hang out with Tommy to make him feel more welcome and get to know him. Dennis packed up and went home right after the audition and decision, saying he had song ideas he was working on and needed to get back to. John and Chuck were hanging outside and talking with each other, leaving JY standing and casually leaning against the front door, and Tommy awkwardly standing in the foyer with his twelve string. It seemed a whole lot better than to continue standing where they were.

"Hey, Tommy." JY reached out for his attention.

Tommy looked up with a deer in the headlights look at first, as if he'd been caught by surprise. Those big eyes along with his short stature, age difference, and novelty to the band was going to make it hard for JY to not see him as "the kid." He was going to have to take his enthusiasm and channel it into an independent spirit to stand up to Dennis.

What JY would find out was that Tommy wouldn't have any struggle doing just that, nor would he have JC's songwriting struggles.

"Yeah, JY?" asked Tommy.

"Why don't you come with me back inside where I kind of have my gear set up and hang out and talk a bit? And maybe we can see how our playing styles fit together -even jam a bit of you're up for it."

Tommy seemed to perk up, and JY knew the answer before Tommy even said it.

"Sure!" Tommy picked up his electric from where he had it leaning against the wall, and holding it in one hand while carrying his acoustic over his shoulder, he followed JY to a small room in the back of the house. JY had a desk with a pad of paper and a jar of pens, several chord sequences scrawled on the paper on top of the pad. He had a few guitars in stands in the corner of the room and a couple of amps, cables lying around, and a chair at the desk.

Looking around the room, it was tight and cramped -nothing glamorous and shabby compared to even the lowest quality recording studios, but to Tommy, it looked like songwriting heaven in 200 square feet.

JY came in a minute later with another chair. "Here you go," he said, placing it down so that both he and Tommy could sit down. 

"Thanks, man -you didn't have to do that," said Tommy, almost apologetically, but eagerly going to his chair.

"Hey, what was I gonna do? Leave you standing there the whole time?" joked JY.

"Well, I guess it's less customary to stand in the studio than onstage playing gigs," decided Tommy, sitting down and situating his guitar across his knees.

"Never been in a studio before?" asked JY. "Not that you could really call this room a studio."

Tommy shook his head. "Not once in my life. Just played small local gigs and in the living room and on the front porch of my family's house. I sometimes do some writing and have used a tape recorder before. But nothing serious or truly like a recording studio."

JY smirked. "Well, I suppose you'll find yourself in a rookie position right soon. We're almost finished putting together a new album and more than halfway through the recording process. You say you write some?"

"Yeah -guitar lines, rhythm chords and some leads, and also lyrics."

JY took note of this.

"I'm afraid we've almost filled this album up, but we might be able to sneak in a track for you if you've got some ideas. We're planning to do another one in a year though, and that one will be from scratch. It's undecided, but I'm pretty sure, if you'd like, we're going to split singing duties, and you can sing on some of the songs that Dennis doesn't."

"I'm allowed to sing lead too?" Tommy's eyes lit up.

"If you'd like. Dennis is still going to sing the songs he writes, obviously, but any songs that you write that you want to sing, you're welcome to. We tried to do that with JC, but he didn't have as much lead ability. Bear in mind, Dennis is undecided, but highly considering it, and I'm all for it if you want -so it's likely to happen. If you're up to it."

"Of course!" exclaimed Tommy, looking like a kid on Christmas who'd just opened their last present and found it to be the one thing they really wanted and didn't think they were going to get.

"Then I'll talk with Dennis, and I'm pretty sure that takes care of the indecision. You've got it. Now, you say you already have some riffs you've written down as ideas. Let's see what we can do with them for the next album after this one. I recommend if what you have is something with a potential to hit big, you save it for the next album so that it can be mixed in with more of your stuff and not overpowered by everything else without your influence."

JY didn't want to start up anything by revealing the other reason he thought it was best for Tommy to hold off. Dennis getting snappy at the possibility of Tommy's work taking attention away from his own. Luckily, Tommy didn't question JY for further reasoning, and took it as it was.

"I see the logic in that. That works. Gives me something to look forward to too," agreed Tommy. He pulled a guitar pick from his pocket and examined his twelve-string. 

"I have this one idea I don't have lyrics to. I started it out with a finger-picked intro that goes into strumming, but I think the intro would work better on Dennis' keyboards -then I could strum some lighter patterns over it to liven it up. I don't know -you can decide..." Tommy trailed off as he went into the piece.

There was a lightness to the piece. Bright, D Major progressions with this fast finger picking pattern of broken arpeggios. Then there was a small break with slower strums in the same bright chord progression up on the higher notes of the fret board, a fast lick in the middle at the same speed of the broken arpeggios, then returning to the pattern. 

Then a pause, and with a hard strike, a slower, harder strumming pattern, still mainly in D Major, but with minor undertones and shifts into modal patterns. It definitely had a hard rock sound, but there was enough of a prog influence to make it work for all -indeed, the finger picking in the intro could have been done on Dennis' keyboards, the break with the strum could stay on the guitar and bring in some brightness. Adding some pedal tones under the intro with electric guitar and bass would fill it in. The main part of the song, which Tommy only played a short clip of, was a blank canvas for possible guitar or synthesizer solos, and any lyrics that they could fit to the tone of the song -a bright, optimistic sound with an undertone of melancholy.

"There's a lot of potential for a hit in that one, Tommy. Wow."

Tommy blushed slightly. "You really think?" he asked, peeping out from under his bangs -his hair having flopped forward over his face as he got into the rhythm of the song.

"Yeah -and definitely, the synthesizer added to it? That's one Dennis couldn't have an objection to if he tried to find one." Indeed, JY knew that Dennis tended to find any reason to complain, and maybe he would over any of Tommy's other compositions to come, but he'd look pretty stupid doing it over this one.

"I think maybe having some pedal tones under the arpeggios might help-?"

_Don't they say that great minds think alike? I can't wait to figure out what else this kid's got up his sleeves when we start riff ideas from scratch together!_

"You know, Tommy, I was just about to say that, and you beat me to it."

"Then I guess that's just what we'll do." Tommy sounded quite matter-of-fact, and with every reason to. 

Then he looked back down, picked up his electric, and though not really looking like he had a clear idea as to what he wanted to do, kept softly repeating a few chords in a darker, edgier, D minor progression. One that sounded like a good introduction to a really deep and heavy hard rocker.

_Not sure where we'll go with that one or when, but that's even better,_ thought JY to himself, before breaking Tommy's focus again.

"Hey, write that progression down. We might be able to do something with that one later too. We'll see how this album coming up goes, but I have a pretty good feeling our one for '77 is going to be great," said JY, smiling at Tommy. He had some mixed feelings as to what was to come for Styx, but he knew he'd found the perfect co-lead guitarist for him to work with. And potentially a really good friend too.

Tommy beamed. He felt like he'd found the perfect band to call home.

"Well, thanks JY, I appreciate it. I probably need to head out, but I'm looking forward to it already!" With that, Tommy packed up his guitars and left to return home to prepare for his journey ahead with Styx. There was a bounce in his step on his way out to his car that JY couldn't ignore as he watched from the window of the room. It was indeed a nice contrast to some of Dennis' dark moods that dominated most of the time.

Not long after Tommy left, JY heard footsteps in the house, and the door swung open as John Panozzo came in, carrying a six pack of beer, two bottles missing, one in John's hand, already half consumed, the one before it presumably already consumed by John too.

"You said you were in the yard hanging out with Chuck, not going to the store," noted JY.

"Yeah, I know. Change of plans. That kid's got a real edge to him, huh?" asked John, trying to change the subject, but a dark tone shadowed his voice.

JY frowned. Usually he wouldn't have minded, but right now, John looked conflicted, and that had him worried. John tended to be a heavy drinker at parties and was usually easy going and level headed, but when he was nervous, he could drink himself out of control if he didn't stop soon enough.

Then again, he only had a six pack with him, so unless he drank every one of them, he couldn't get blackout drunk or dangerously so, given that he had a pretty high tolerance.

"Yeah, he does," agreed JY. "Kid's got a lot. Showed me some potential ideas. Got a killer opening riff he looked like he improved right in front of me, and then this twelve string masterpiece that with everything added to it is going to take us to the charts for sure. Unlike most of the soft prog stuff we've done so far that Dennis has wanted." Eyeing the case, JY reached out and took a beer for himself, taking the advantage, and protecting John at the same time.

John sat down on the floor and leaned back casually against an amp.

"More of the hard rock side that JC wanted?"

"That, and maybe a bit edgier in a few ways. I think there's good opportunity for Dennis to work into the twelve-string one, but he's got this D-minor progression..." JY looked down on the desk to a sheet of paper where Tommy had scrawled the chords he'd come up with, then picked up his own guitar and struck them in the same rhythm. "Can you imagine what that could just be the beginning of?"

John got off the amp to lay flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He held his hands up, as if to air drum a potential beat that rang in his mind.

"I imagine a lot. He's definitely a hard rocker."

"That he is. Between that, his singing, and his composing abilities, I don't think Dennis can shove him aside the same way he did JC. He's too good. If he does, fans are going to notice, because I have a feeling they'll like what Tommy's got." With that, JY put his guitar back down and slid out of his seat to sit on the floor next to John.

John continued to lie on the floor thinking in silence. Then he looked back over at JY as the question formed into speakable words. "Think Dennis is gonna have a cow?"

JY snorted loud, long, and blatantly.

"John, I don't think we even need to ask that question. We already know the answer," he drawled. "But I think Tommy's gonna get us somewhere that JC couldn't get us. Dennis can't deny that Tommy's got some pipes in him with that guitar skill -and if he proves to write well, then he's gonna have to cede some power. We'll just see how much he's willing to share, and how he responds if Tommy gets a better response."

He paused a second, then rolled his eyes.

"But oh, yes, John. He will at some point throw a big, fat, fucking fit over this. Because like I told and showed you, Tommy's got ideas for hard rockers, and he's too good to get hidden the way JC did. I have every intention to work with him on his ideas to make sure they happen."

John closed his eyes for a few seconds, giving off a long sigh. Indeed, he was excited with the prospect of Tommy coming onto the scene and bringing in some more creative sparks in the direction that Dennis was holding them back from. But there were undeniable drawbacks, and he was not looking forward to when Dennis started getting up on his soap box at every issue. He was purely conflicted.

He at least hoped that as energetic, outgoing, and enthusiastic as Tommy seemed, that he was patient and laid back too so that there weren't shots fired back and forth when it came to that.

And then came the barrage of "what if"s to his mind if that weren't the case. John groaned.

_Oh boy, we're in trouble._

"John?" 

JY sat up straight off the floor and looked over at John in concern.

John reached over for his beer bottle and raised his head just enough of an angle so he wouldn't choke, then tilted it back and downed the remaining bitter dregs at the bottom.

"Pass me another drink, would ya' JY? I need one. Because while I think we've got something great for us, I also believe we're headed for a hell of trouble."

JY sighed, but he didn't even argue. Wordlessly, he reached for the case and passed John another bottle, before grabbing another one for himself a second later.


End file.
